Asia felt the full force of Thursday’s US crash. Within an hour of the open, Korea’s Kospi was down more than 8%, triggering a 20-minute circuit breaker. Both the Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei closed about 6% lower, and Taiwan’s Taiex lost 4.5%. The Nikkei is now more than 20% below its June peak, which puts it in a bear market.

Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC led the fall. All three have ridden the AI chip boom, so they are the most exposed if US data-centre spending slows.

Bargain hunting helped pare losses in mainland markets buoyed by Beijing’s market-supporting measures.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 entered bear market territory Friday, as a deepening sell-off in technology stocks dragged the benchmark more than 20% below its June peak.

Japanese and Korean officials publicly acknowledged the volatility. Mainland China held up better because Beijing’s market-support measures drew bargain buyers.